'Something I'll Never See Again': Petaluma Photos Of The Day

PETALUMA, CA—Earthlings are currently able to see an ancient celestial traveler that likely originated in the Oort Cloud, a large spherical shell of icy debris at the outer reaches of our solar system.

Around 7:50 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, Patch reader Kim MacLeod captured these images of the so-called "comet of the century."

"Love to see something I’ll never see again," Kim wrote in an email to Patch.

Thanks so much for sharing, Kim!

The comet was discovered in 2023 at China's Tsuchinshan—or Purple Mountain—Observatory and an ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System ) telescope in South Africa. It was officially named in honor of both observatories. Thus, its name is C/2023 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS.

NASA explained that as a comet approaches the Sun, it gets warmer and warmer until the heat causes its ice to sublimate into gas. The gases and dust become a long, glowing coma and tail that extends for millions of miles. There is a second tail, the faintly visible ion tail. Both can be seen in the image below of Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, photographed Sept. 19 by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.

The comet made its closest transit past the Sun on Sept. 27 and was expected to come within approximately 44 million miles of Earth by mid-October.

Until Oct. 8, it was visible primarily to those in the Southern Hemisphere and the Tropics. It came closest to Earth Oct. 13-14, treating viewers in the Northern Hemisphere. It is expected to remain visible from Earth through the end of the month, according to NASA.

NASA has corrected an earlier report that the comet will be visible from Earth again in 80,000 years. As of Oct. 14, 2024, NASA said the comet’s path may remove it from the solar system altogether.

It's Your Shot: Pictures You Take and We Share

Have you got the next incredible photo? If you have an awesome photo of nature, breathtaking scenery, kids caught being kids, a pet doing something funny or something unusual you happen to see, we'd love to feature it on Patch. We're looking for high-resolution images that reflect the beauty of the North Bay. No selfies. Not here.

Send your photos to maggie.fusek@patch.com. Please include the following information: 1) photographer's first and last name; 2 ) time and day of photo/s; 3) location of photo/s; 4) what you love/don't love about the photo/s. Hope to see your work soon!

ALSO SEE:

• 'Comet Of The Century' Zooms Past Sonoma County: Photos Of The Day
• Comet A3 From Danville: Photo Of The Day